The first week of school is hectic and stressful. You arrive on campus and immediately take a sniff of the dog food air, and remember that you most likely have to eat at the Cranston again.
For your average performance major, they refer to this week as “audition week” due to all auditions for every mainstage production being that week.
Well, being a new BFA Acting major, I got to experience this firsthand, and let me tell you, it is hell.
Let me paint the scene for you. Close your eyes and imagine you’ve just moved on campus. Actually, don’t close your eyes, you need to read this. Actually, better idea, have a friend read this section to you. Anyways, imagine you’ve just moved in and you’re thinking about your responsibilities for the week. You may think of unpacking, getting back together with old friends, or purchasing textbooks. These are, for a person with high anxiety, pretty stressful things. Now add the memorization of at least two monologues, a song and preparing for a dance audition. Puts a lot more stress on. Especially for incoming freshman.
For the performance majors, this week is the epitome of what performance is. As the great Professor Ted Sharon once said, “Our career is auditioning, acting in a play or musical is just a bonus.” 
First semester freshman will realize quickly that the stakes are raised, headshots and resumes are needed and a higher standard of professionalism is expected than what you’d get in a highschool. For a sophomore like me, you pray that maybe you’ll finally be lucky enough to be in your first mainstage, and truthfully, it’s tough.
I’ve noticed in my brief time in Fredonia that the mainstages make actors and actresses doubt or believe in themselves more. Got in a mainstage? Incredible, you’ve got what it takes for Broadway. Didn’t get in? Sorry buddy, you’re not cut out for the business.
But that’s quite unfortunate. I was lucky enough to be cast in The Grapes of Wrath as an understudy, and truthfully, it hurt a lot at first. I was convinced I was not good enough to play a real role on stage. But that’s stupid of me to think. One’s casting or non-casting in a show does not measure their success as a performer.
Instead of seeing it as a rejection, see it as a moment to continue working. I was lucky to be cast as an understudy; it lets me really understand and study the phenomenal actors we have here to work towards bettering myself.
So what am I trying to say here with this long rambling article? Give your local performance a hug this week, they really need it. Some of them are riding a high after being cast in a show, while others may feel like zombies after working tirelessly for a week, and being cast in no roles. Some of the most talented people I’ve ever met weren’t cast in any of the shows this year. Doesn’t mean they’re not talented. In fact, they’re in leagues more talented than me. It just means that the directors thought they’d save their greatness for another year.
(Pssssst, by the way, come write for the Scallion. Email me! marc6930@fredonia.edu)